Rankings race heats up as Australian Open approaches
The race for the prestigious number one ranking heats up as the prestigious Australian Open approaches, with Tasmanians Lee Schraner and Rebecca Van Asch climbing the leaderboard after impressive State Championships displays. Tasmanian spearhead Lee Schraner took one more step in his quest to chase down Australian Jackaroo Aron Sherriff as Australia’s number one ranked male bowler, winning Tasmanian State Triples and Champion of Champions Singles titles to rocket up to within 22 points of Sherriff.
Sherriff also faces stiff competition from former Jackaroo Matthew Flapper, currently in third position but looming large after victory at the recent Leopold 8000 event.
With the nature of the rolling rankings system, Sherriff faces a tough test to maintain his current points tally, with his 120 points for victory at last year’s Australian Open dropping off prior to the end of the rankings year, meaning Sherriff will be aiming to at least match this haul across all disciplines at this year’s event.
The Tasmanian State Championships also proved fruitful for Jackaroo Rebecca Van Asch, who climbs up to 4th place on the Women’s table and only 1.6 points behind Kelly McKerihen for third after victory in the State Triples. The Women’s standings seemingly look like a race in two between recently crowned dual World Champions Natasha Scott and current leader Carla Krizanic.
However, with the two leaders poised to play together in the Pairs and Fours disciplines at the points-rich Australian Open, any stumble in the team disciplines may open a window to the chasing pack, as well as making the Women’s Singles all the more crucial in separating the two!
The highest ranked bowler from each state remains littered with big names:
Top ranked players by state (men):
ACT: Adam Jeffrey (overall ranking – 28th)
NSW: Aron Sherriff (overall ranking – 1st)
NT: Trystan Smallacombe (overall ranking – 27th)
QLD: Kurt Brown (overall ranking – 14th)
SA: Steven Dennis (overall ranking – 8th)
TAS: Lee Schraner (overall ranking – 2nd)
VIC: Matthew Flapper (overall ranking – 3rd)
WA: Pieter Harris (overall ranking – 26th)
Overseas: Ryan Bester (overall ranking – 10th)
Top ranked players by state (women):
ACT: Sharon Steele (overall ranking – 21st)
NSW: Natasha Scott (overall ranking – 2nd)
NT: Colleen Orr (overall ranking – 13th)
QLD: Ester Regan (overall ranking – 5th)
SA: Cassandra Harvey (overall ranking – 17th)
TAS: Rebecca Van Asch (overall ranking – 4th)
VIC: Carla Krizanic (overall ranking – 1st)
WA: Lisa Featherby (overall ranking – 15th)
Overseas: Kelly McKerihen (overall ranking – 3rd)
Overall Player Rankings (Men)
1st Aron Sherriff (NSW): 337
2nd Lee Schraner (TAS): 315
3rd Matthew Flapper (VIC): 249.6
4th Chris Herden (NSW): 224
5th Jono Davis (NSW): 223
Overall Player Rankings (Women)
1st Carla Krizanic (VIC): 446.2
2nd Natasha Scott (NSW): 408
3rd Kelly McKerihen (Overseas, CAN): 246.6
4th Rebecca Van Asch (TAS): 245
5th Ester Regan (QLD): 225.1
Click here to see the upcoming rankings events in April
Click here to see the full male rankings as of March 31, 2017
Click here to see the full female rankings as of March 31, 2017
Learn more about the National Player Rankings here
